Pucker Up, Buttercup
by strwberrylovely
Summary: It's New Year's Eve and Wade is finally going to kiss Peter when the clock hits 12. If only he can find him before the countdown.


It was almost midnight. Any second now they were gonna start counting down. He was running out of time.

Wade's eyes scanned the crowded room for his best friend; he had gone to the bathroom a while ago and hadn't come back yet. He was getting pretty anxious. He really needed Peter to come back. This was the year that Wade had decided he was going to kiss Peter for New Years.

Well, he would if Peter would hurry up.

Getting impatient, Wade left his spot and went to look for him, thinking he must have gotten lost trying to find his way back. He weaved in and out of different crowds of people until he finally saw Peter over by the refreshments, laughing with his arm around a guy Wade had never seen before. Peter must have known him though, because they seemed very cozy. A little _too_ cozy for Wade's taste.

"Peter!" Wade said as he stormed over. "Where have you been? They're about to start the countdown!"

"Oh! Hey Wade, this is my best friend from high school, Johnny," Peter said, slurry his words a little, drink in his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Wade. I'm Johnny." Peter's blonde, and very drunk, friend held out his hand for Wade to take.

"Wade," Wade said, taking the hand and slightly grimacing. He wasn't a fan of drunk people. Wade quickly turned his attention back to Peter, who also seemed drunk, though significantly less than Johnny.

"Peter, are you drunk? You weren't even gone that long."

"What can I say, he's a lightweight! Always has been!" Johnny loudly answered for Peter and they both started to laugh, arms still around each other.

Wade was starting to rethink his plan of kissing Peter now that he was drunk, but he knew if he didn't, then he never would.

"Peter, who is this guy? Your boyfriend?" Johnny asked suddenly, stopping Wade's heart in an instant.

"Who, Wade?" Peter looked at Wade and then back at Johnny before laughing quietly and then shaking his head. "Nope."

Wade quickly came back down to earth as he heard people starting to countdown.

Ten!

"Hey Pete."

Nine!

"Yeah, Johnny?"

Eight!

"Would you do me the honors…"

Seven!

"…of being my New Year's kiss?"

Six!

"Uhh…"

Five!

"Sure."

Four!

"Cool. Pucker up, buttercup."

Three!

 _NO!_

Two!

Wade looked around the party for something to distract Peter but he knew he was too late.

One!

Happy New Year!

Without looking, Wade quickly grabbed Peter's face and planted one on him, feeling triumphant. He had done it, finally got to kiss his best friend. Suck it, Johnny McBlonde-hair.

Wade was smiling into the kiss and letting himself enjoy it. Until he opened his eyes.

That wasn't Peter.

No, Peter was beside him, laughing his ass off.

Wade jumped back in distress and confusion.

"What?!" he yelled.

"Hey dude," Johnny started, "I'm flattered and all but I barely know you. Buy me a drink first huh?" The blonde winked at him and Peter was still laughing.

Wade thought about throwing up. He kissed the wrong person! And not just the wrong person but Peter's old best friend that was about to kiss Peter until Wade had blindly grabbed him. His face was now completely red and he thought about running away until Peter grabbed his arm.

"Dude, that was awesome," Peter said, his laughter dying down.

Wade remembered that Peter was still drunk and he didn't want to leave him alone with the over-flirtatious and way-too-drunk Johnny.

"Hey Peter, don't you think it's about time to leave? You're already drunk and if we leave now then we can beat the parking lot traffic."

"Wade, you're so nice, always taking care of me. Why don't you let yourself go a little? This is a party after all! WHOO!" Peter's 'whoo' was loud enough that the whole party heard him and the entire place became filled with similar shouts of excitement for the new year.

Wade was getting fed up. With himself for kissing Johnny, with being surrounded by drunk people, and now with Peter, who was drunk himself. Peter almost never drank, but when he did he was the most annoying drunk. He went through stages, first giggly, then loud, Wade just hoped he could get him home before he got into his crying stage.

"Come on, Peter. Please, I want to leave."

"Then leave! I don't care. I want to stay here and party with Johnny." Peter was in his "I don't care about anything" stage, and Wade knew he couldn't reason with him.

"Fine, I'll go. But you're finding your own way home."

Wade was pissed. He pushed past everyone and made his way to the car. He knew it was irresponsible to leave Peter there and to have him find his own way home, but he was too angry to think rationally.

When he finally got to his and Peter's apartment, he laid down and cried. He had been so stupid to let Peter wander off on his own in the first place, even if it was just to go to the bathroom. Neither of them had been to that person's house before and didn't know anybody there anyway.

 _Of course Peter would run into the one person that he/em did emknow. And that one person got him drunk. Even if I had kissed the right person, Peter probably wouldn't have remembered it anyway. Stupid Johnny, getting in the way and ruining everything. And, as if getting Peter drunk wasn't enough, he was going to kiss him! If he hadn't, I wouldn't have freaked out and grabbed the wrong person's face! And now Peter's alone with him at that party and they're probably getting even more drunk or making out or who knows what else!_

Wade was just pissed at himself and was pushing it off on Johnny, and he knew it. He didn't even know the guy, but he needed a physical being to be mad at.

 _I'm so stupid._

Wade awoke to the sound of the front door slamming. He didn't even remember falling asleep last night.

"Ow," he heard Peter say from the living room.

Wade looked at the clock and saw it was 7am.

 _Really!?_

Wade got out of bed and ran into the living room. He saw Peter in the kitchen washing his face.

"Ahem," Wade said as Peter turned the water off.

Peter dabbed his face and started, "Wade-"

"How'd you get home?"

"I got a cab," Peter said, wincing from his hangover.

Wade felt a pang of guilt that he had made Peter get a cab instead of him driving him home. But he was still angry and wanted to know what happened after he left.

"Did you and Johnny have a good time after I left?" he asked with a twinge of jealousy.

"Honestly Wade, I don't-"

"Did you guys do anything?"

"…What are you talking about?"

"I dunno, you guys seemed pretty cozy last night, so I was just wondering. Did you wake up next to him?"

"What are you, jealous? Yeah Wade, I _did_ wake up next to him."

Wade's anger left him and was replaced by a wave of sadness.

"But we didn't do anything, not that it's any of your business! We both fell asleep sitting up on the couch. Johnny and I were best friends in high school, and I haven't seen him in years. It's not like I like him or anything, and besides, he's straight."

Peter paused and looked at Wade with a hurt and angry look.

"I don't even know why I'm explaining myself, or Johnny, to you right now. You owe me an explanation, if anything. Why did you leave last night?"

"I…You told me to."

"Wh-I was drunk. You know I didn't mean it. You're the one that wanted to leave, but I-I wanted you to stay, Wade. You're my best friend and you should have known that. I wanted you to stay with me."

"I was mad!" Wade's voice was raised, but also shaky, with a range of emotions neither man could pinpoint. Wade lowered his voice before continuing.

"I was mad. At myself."

"Why?"

"How much do you remember from last night?"

Peter gave Wade a look of bewilderment at the change of subject before shaking his head and answering, "Not a lot, but I remember you kissed Johnny," Peter replied, a small smile creeping up on his still exasperated face. "Why'd you kiss him anyway, if you hate him so much?"

"I don't…I don't hate him, I just…I didn't mean to kiss him. I…I meant to kiss you."

"What?"

"Peter, I meant to kiss you! That's why I was so mad! Because I wasn't paying attention and I grabbed him instead of you!" Wade took a breath and then spoke again. "You know what I remember from last night?"

Peter shook his head.

"I remember freaking out when you didn't come back from the bathroom because they were gonna count down soon. And I remember being jealous when Johnny asked if you wanted to be his New Years kiss, because _I_ was supposed to be your New Years kiss. Then I remember being so excited because I thought I had finally kissed you after loving you for so long, only to become embarrassed when I realized it wasn't you I was kissing. I remember getting mad at myself for making that mistake. And then being mad that I was surrounded by drunk people that wouldn't remember that night, unlike me, who will have to live with the memory that I couldn't even grab the right person's face! And finally, I remember being mad at you, and I don't even know why! Maybe because you were drunk, or because your arm was around Johnny or, I don't know! But I know I wasn't actually mad at _you._ I could never be mad at you, not really! I was just mad at myself! I don't know…I'm such an idiot."

"Wade-"

"I shouldn't have left you there last night when you were so drunk and I'm so sorry."

A tear fell down Wade's face as he finished. He had one arm across his chest holding onto his other arm. Peter walked over and wiped the tear and then kept his hand resting on Wade's cheek.

"…You love me?"

Wade's eyes widened as the realization that he had just confessed that happened.

"I-" Wade cut himself off and looked in Peter's eyes. He wasn't going to lie to his best friend. He took Peter's hand off his cheek and held it in his own, staring at it.

"Yes, Peter. I love you."

He didn't care if Peter didn't feel the same, but just telling him lifted some sort of weight off of Wade that he didn't know he was carrying. He looked back up at Peter's face and saw that he seemed to be contemplating something, his eyes searching Wade's face, for what, Wade didn't know.

"You know, you still didn't get that New Years kiss that you were so excited about."

Wade's heart skipped a beat as Peter stepped closer to him.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven…"

Wade's mind went blank and all he could hear was Peter's voice counting down.

"…six, five, four…"

Peter wrapped his arms around the taller man and tilted his head up.

"…three, two…"

Wade closed his eyes and tilted his head down, their noses touching.

"…one."

Their mouths finally met each other. Softly, barely touching, but just as meaningful as even the most passionate of kisses would be. They stayed like that for a second, neither of them sure enough to take it further, until they both gathered enough strength to press into each other. It wasn't a heated kiss, but a strong, loving kiss, with all of the emotions they had for each other pouring out. There was no tongue, neither of their mouths open at all. The only movement came from Wade, who had started crying from finally, emfinally/em being able to feel Peter's lips on his, after all this time.

Finally, their lips parted, tears streaming down Wade's face, and Peter's face wet because of it. They stared at each other for a long moment before breaking into smiles and soft laughter. Their laughter melted away and they quietly held each other close, both enjoying the other's body wrapped around him.

"Happy New Year, Wade."

"Happy New Year, Peter."


End file.
